IBM Targeting Software 'Influencers'

IBM's software group is extending the 'Top Contributor' incentives and resources program it currently makes available to its top reseller partners, announcing a new version that recognizes integrators and consultants who influence the sale of IBM software.

The company announced its new 'Top Contributor Initiative' for influencers this week at CMP's Solution Provider XChange event in New Orleans. The program will target firms that build software solutions on IBM middleware for the small and mid-sized business market, which IBM identifies as companies with less than 1,000 employees.

The main goal of the program is to strengthen relationships with the small and mid-tier systems integrators and influencers by recognizing the strategic roles they play in the sale and implementation of IBM software, even if they're not directly reselling product. The result, say IBM executives, will be tighter go-to-market relationships that will ultimately benefit IBM and its integration partners, many of whom are already members of IBM's existing Consultants and Integrators program.

"This is really geared toward the AnswerThinks and the Digitas of the world -- regional systems integrators and other companies that don't necessarily want to resell IBM products," says Mark Hanny, vice president of worldwide partner marketing for IBM software.

The TCI For Influencers program will bring together a number of existing IBM PartnerWorld for Software offerings for partners, including the 'Now You' incentive, in which companies earn 'prize' points based on the impact they have on IBM product sales; market growth fee, which pays companies between four and 12 percent fees based on meeting target sales goals; and up to three percent co-marketing funds.

Hanny says the program will also expand IBM's existing efforts to match influencers with other IBM partners whose product-oriented services complement their offerings. "Some of these [influencers are never going to go in and install hardware of software, so they may be a perfect match for someone," says Hanny.

Last year IBM business partners brought in $2.5 billion of the software group's total $11 billion in revenue, with $1.2 billion in the SMB space. And as part of the existing TCI program for resellers, IBM paid $68 million in rebates and co-marketing funds to its software resellers.

"We put a lot of energy into that initiative last year, and as a result we saw sales from that group up 60 percent year-over-year" says Hanny. "So we want to expand it to a new level."